Danny gets an intriguing email from Joe Cuccio, a photographer on a years-long mission to document data centers and the physical infrastructure of the digital cloud. When Joe visits central Ohio on his travels, he takes Danny into the field to photograph the data centers of New Albany, a Columbus suburb. During the outing, Danny and Joe encounter more than just ugly, dystopic buildings. From the strange public/private billionaire history of New Albany to the fear tactics tech companies employ to hide the impacts of data centers, the photo shoot is far from routine. Despite the challenges, Joe and Danny discover that data centers can bring communities together, even as they try to keep people apart.

In this episode, we hear from:

Joe Cuccio: a visual artist based between Boston, MA and The Bronx, NY. concerned with how technology and time alter relationships. Learn more: https://www.joecucciophotography.com/

Resources:

Joe Cuccio’s New Farmers Almanac // https://www.joecucciophotography.com/

Unbuffered episode on Flock cameras // https://ilsr.org/article/community-broadband-networks/flock-off-episode-23-of-unbuffered/

How Les Wexner transformed New Albany, Ohio // https://finance-commerce.com/2019/05/how-vicotria-secrets-les-wexner-transformed-new-albany-ohio/

Organic Maps app // https://organicmaps.app/

This is it, the final episode! Danny gives us his closing arguments, reflecting on all he’s learned about the data center fight in communities across the United States. We listen in on Danny’s conversation with prolific author and tech critic Cory Doctorow about the centaur/reverse centaur theory of how we use technology and how technology uses us. And, we take another quick trip to some of the communities we’ve visited along the way: Data Center Alley in Northern Virginia, Davis, West Virginia, and Memphis, Tennessee, to get the latest on their fights. When it’s all said and done, the greatest lesson from the data center clashes may be in the value of agency, and that the way to protect communities from harmful data centers is to ensure that technology serves communities, not the other way around.

In this episode, we hear from:

Cory Doctorow: Science fiction author, activist and journalist whose recent books include “Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse And What To Do About It” and “The Reverse Centaur’s Guide To Life After AI.”

Nikki Forrester: Helped launch Tucker United, now serves as the director of communications and spokesperson, lives in Tucker County, WV, and is a journalist.

Elena Schlossenberg: Our local tour guide, and deeply involved in grassroots organizing in Prince William County and Loudoun County. She has a deep knowledge of land-use management and serves as the executive director of the Coalition to Protect Prince William County.

Amber Sherman: Local policy organizer in Memphis.

Delegate John McAuliff: Recently elected Delegate for Fauquier and Loudoun counties in Northern Virginia, flipping the seat by running largely on data center regulation.

Samuel Black: Award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist working with More Perfect Union. He covers tech, labor, energy, finance, housing, and U.S. politics.

Resources:

Corruption is Driving Up Your Electricity Bill

Cory Doctorow’s blog, Craphound

Samuel Black’s More Perfect Union coverage from Boxtown

Local coverage from Tucker County about Fundamental Data’s visit, and how local leaders reacted

The latest updates from Prince William County about the Data Center Gateway case

A tool tracking every data center moratorium

Throughout this season, we've learned about the threats and harms data centers pose to local communities. But is there a better way to build this tech infrastructure? On this episode, Danny invites energy, broadband, and local business experts to discuss how we can build and regulate data centers in ways that keep agency within local communities. From BYONCE (Bring Your Own New Clean Energy) to transparency, and from antitrust action to community-scaled, locally owned data centers, this episode breaks down all the ways we can create a better future — one where local communities have control over what happens next.

In this episode, we hear from:

Stacy Mitchell: Writer, strategist, policy advocate, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, with a focus on the importance of small, independent businesses.

Chris Mitchell: Program director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, who is a leading national expert on community networks, Internet access, and local broadband policies, and host of the Unbuffered podcast.

John Farrell: Co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance and leads the organization’s work on energy systems, including duties as host of the Local Energy Rules podcast.

Resources:

Institute for Local Self-Reliance - The Policies Communities Need to Confront the AI Data Center Race

Good Jobs First - Shutting Down Data Center Subsidies

Steph Speirs on TikTok - Solving the AI Power Problem

AI Now Policy Institute - North Star Data Center Policy Toolkit